The devastating effects of climate change are already here with us in Nigeria. Experts have blamed the recent rise in infectious diseases to climate change especially the El Nino event.

In fact, medical and environment experts told The Guardian “the effects of climate change are felt at every site of the country. Rising global temperatures would have a catastrophic effect on human health and patterns of infection would change, with insect-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever spreading more easily.”

A medical microbiologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Dr. Oyinlola Oduyebo, said: “There are some infections that occur in season, so naturally if there is a change in season or climate there will have to be changes in the type of infections and in the manner that there were originally known to occur.”

Head of Department of Environmental Services, Ikeja Local Government Area (LGA), Lagos State, Mr. Kolawole Ajanaku, said: “Change in temperature could bring a lot of environmental problems. When sunlight reaches Earth’s surface, it can either be reflected back into space or absorbed by Earth. Once absorbed, the planet releases some of the energy back into the atmosphere as heat (also called infrared radiation). Greenhouse gases like water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane (CH4) absorb energy, slowing or preventing the loss of heat to space. In this way, GHGs act like a blanket, making earth warmer than it would otherwise be.

“But the climate we have come to expect is not what it used to be, because the past is no longer a reliable predictor of the future. Our climate is rapidly changing with disruptive impacts, and that change is progressing faster than any seen in the last 2,000 year.”

Ajanaku, an environmentalist, who is also a Senior Advocate Nigeria (SAN), added: “That is why the Lagos state Government has taken the bull by the horn by planting trees across the state to reduce our carbon footprint that takes place annually on 14th of July.”

The Minister of State for Environment, Usman Jubril, who was a panelist on a Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, said: “The effects of climate change are felt at every sight of the country. Rising global temperatures would have a catastrophic effect on human health and patterns of infection would change, with insect-borne diseases such as malaria and READ MORE

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Nigeria has since 1992, given prominence to handling of climate change issues through the establishment of the Federal Environmental Agency (FEPA) in 1988.
The administration of climate change in Nigeria was first identified and situated in the Department of Planning and Evaluation under the defunct Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) as part of the mandate of the Agency. Read More...

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Major activity of the Unit is the coordination of activities towards national implementation of the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. The Ministry carries out these activities through the Unit by working in collaboration with other relevant government organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia and private sector under a Committee known as Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change (ICCC). Read More...